330 Harun al-Rashid
has been gleaned from short autobiographical comments
and remarks by his contemporaries. Hartmann was likely
born about 1165 in SWABIA. The Aueof his name has
been said to refer to a town (Eglisau) on the Rhine River,
or to be Obernau near Rottenburg on the Nektar River.
As a member of the lower nobility, he was well educated,
probably at the monastery of Reichenau, where he
became well versed in the classics and the BIBLEand flu-
ent in Latin and French. He called himself a knight; his
lord has remained unknown but was probably from the
Zahringer family. Hartmann probably wrote his min-
nesangs or love poems by 1180 and from then on
explored religious themes. He might have gone on the
Third Crusade. Hartmann seems to have written Poor
Heinrichand Iweinafter returning from an expedition of
some sort. Contemporary literary references suggested
that his death occurred between 1210 and 1220.
Further reading: R. W. Fischer, trans., Narrative
Works of Hartmann von Aue (Göppingen: Kümmerle,
1983); Frank Tobin et al., Hartmann von Aue: The Com-
plete Arthurian Romances, Tales, and Lyric Poetry(Univer-
sity Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000);
Susan L. Clark, Hartmann von Aue: Landscapes of Mind
(Houston: Rice University Press, 1989); Vivian Kim,
“Hartmann von Aue (ca. 1160–after 1210)” in John M.
Jeep, ed., Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia(New York:
Garland, 2001), 323–326; Petrus W. Tax, “Hartmann von
Aue,” DMA6.102–107.
Harun al-Rashid(Harun ibn Muhammad ibn Abd
Allah, the upright)(766–809)fifth caliph of the Abbasid
Valois Dynasty
Harun al-Rashid was born at Reyy near modern Teheran
in February 766, the third son of the third Abbasid
CALIPH, Mohammed al-Mahdi (r. 775–785). His mother
was a Yemeni slave, later freed, who gained great political
influence through her husband and son. As a boy, Harun
was a nominal leader of military expeditions against the
BYZANTINEEMPIREin 780 and 782. Because of victories in
them he received the honorific name al-Rashid, “the
Upright.” He also gained experience as governor of vari-
ous provinces. In 782, Harun had been named as second
in succession to the throne; however, on his father’s death
in 785, the new caliph, his brother, al-Hadi (r. 785–786),
treated him very badly but then died mysteriously on
September 14, 786. Harun was proclaimed caliph. For the
first 17 years of his reign, Harun relied to a great extent on
his competent vizier and the vizier’s sons. The reign has
long been considered the high point of the Arab caliphate.
This was the era of the THOUSAND ANDONENIGHTS.
CONFLICTS AND CONQUESTSAlthough the period was generally an era of peace and
prosperity, there was an almost constant series of local
insurrections during his reign. In the earlier part of the
reign there were troubles in EGYPT,SYRIA,IRAQ, Yemen,
and Daylam, and in 806 a more serious revolt in
Khurasan. The problem of holding together such a huge
empire as Harun’s naturally led to some loss of authority
over al-ANDALUS, the establishment of an independent
principality in MOROCCOby the IDRISIDdynasty in 789
and of a semi-independent one in Tunisia by the AGH-
LABIDdynasty in 800. The danger of further disintegra-
tion was increased by Harun’s arrangement for
succession. It provided for one son, al-Amin (r. 809–813),
to become caliph and for another son, al-Mamun
(r. 813–833), to control provinces and part of the army.
Harun took an interest in the campaigns against the
Byzantines, personally leading expeditions in 797, 803,
and 806. In 797 the empress IRENEoffered peace and
agreed to pay a large sum of money. The emperor
Nikephoros I (r. 802–811) denounced this treaty but was
forced to accede to an even more humiliating one in 806.
The island of CYPRUSwas occupied in 805. Though not
mentioned in Arabic sources, there seemed to have been
diplomatic contacts between Harun and CHARLEMAGNE.
The latter apparently was recognized as the protector of
Christian pilgrims to JERUSALEM. Harun died at Tus in
eastern Iran on March 24, 809, during an expedition to
restore order.
See alsoABUNUWAS AL-HASAN IBNHANI AL-HAKAMI.
Further reading:André Clot, Harun al-Rashid and
the World of the Thousand and One Nights,trans. John
Howe (London: Saqi, 1989); Tayeb El-Hibri, Reinterpreting
Islamic Historiography: Harun al-Rashid and the Narrative
of the Abbasid(New York: Cambridge University Press,
1999); John Bagot Glubb, Haroon al Rasheed and the Great
Abbasids(London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1976).al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib(625–669/70)elder
son of Ali and Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad
Born in MEDINAal-Hasan grew up in close contact with
Muhammad as his second cousin. He later participated in
his father Ali’s war against the eventual Sunni caliph,
Muawiya (r. 661–80). After Ali’s murder in 661, al-Hasan
was elected caliph by the partisans of Ali, who had
assembled at Kufa with a great army, and prepared to
continue the civil war. However, al-Hasan was ready to
fight only up to a certain point. After negotiation with
Muawiya, he abdicated and settled into a comfortable life
at MEDINA. Rumors were spread that the UMAYYADShad
paid him to abdicate. Later rumors claimed that he was
poisoned by a wife or the Umayyads after dozens of
assassination attempts. He died in 699 or 670. The Shiites
consider him the second IMAMafter ALI.
See alsoAL-HUSAYN IBNALI IBNABITALIB;SHIA,SHI-
ISM, ANDSHIITES.
Further reading:Syed Husain M. Jafri, The Origins
and Early Development of Shia Islam(Oxford: Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 2000); Wilfred Madelung, The Succession to